No ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special This Year, As Russell T. Davies Exits Production
Sorry ‘Whovians,’ no holiday special this year
The BBC disappointed “Doctor Who” fans worldwide this morning when it announced that the previously confirmed Christmas special had been canceled. And what’s more—when the show does eventually return, it’ll be with a whole new creative team. Showrunner Russell T. Davies won’t be at the helm, and neither will production company Bad Wolf.
As Davies posted on his Instagram account, “And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it’s putting the show out to tender. As a result, there won’t be a Christmas Special (…) there’s no need for it.” Davies goes on to explain that the BBC is sacrificing this year’s Christmas special in the hopes of a new, full season down the road.
We already knew that something was up with the upcoming, hypothetical season of “Doctor Who.” Disney pulled its funding pretty abruptly after its second season, and the uncertainties surrounding the show’s future caused Ncuti Gatwa to leave the show and pursue other opportunities. Plus, there hasn’t been any indication that the BBC was actually filming the Christmas special it promised.
This left the BBC to fund the show on its own without a clear plan of who the next Doctor would even be—Gatwa’s Doctor regenerated into former companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) at the end of his run, but fans are split on whether that’s even meant to be a permanent thing or a fun gimmick for a Christmas special. In his Instagram announcement, Davies confirmed that “no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor,” which seems to point towards the latter.
But with the 2026 Christmas special’s cancellation, it seems that we won’t be getting that gimmicky, fun Christmas adventure after all. We’ll just have to wait and see if the BBC can put together a new team that can live up to the show’s 60+ year history—and secure enough funding to pull it off.
Has ‘Doctor Who’ ever missed a Christmas special before?
While the show’s delayed production schedule isn’t too much of a surprise, it’s still a bummer to see another Christmas go by without a “Doctor Who” holiday special. The tradition started in 2005, when the Christmas special served as David Tennant’s introduction as the 10th Doctor, and has continued almost every year since. Many families have grown to see the special as an integral part of their holiday traditions.
The first time “Doctor Who” skipped a Christmas was in 2018, when the show was preparing for a soft reboot and the introduction of its first female Doctor. When it returned in 2019, it wasn’t for a Christmas special, but for a New Year’s special. This trend would continue in 2020, 2021, and 2022, before the show soft-rebooted again and returned with a Christmas special in 2023.
Then the show shuddered to a halt as Disney backed out of funding production, and there was no 2025 special. As seen with the transition to a new Doctor in 2019, skipping one year between Doctors or creative teams isn’t too unusual. But skipping two holiday seasons in a row? That’s almost unheard of.
The last 21 years of ‘Doctor Who’ holiday specials
| Year | Doctor | Christmas special? | New Year's special? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | David Tennant | ✔ | — |
| 2006 | David Tennant | ✔ | — |
| 2007 | David Tennant | ✔ | — |
| 2008 | David Tennant | ✔ | — |
| 2009 | David Tennant | ✔ | — |
| 2010 | Matt Smith | ✔ | — |
| 2011 | Matt Smith | ✔ | — |
| 2012 | Matt Smith | ✔ | — |
| 2013 | Matt Smith | ✔ | — |
| 2014 | Peter Capaldi | ✔ | — |
| 2015 | Peter Capaldi | ✔ | — |
| 2016 | Peter Capaldi | ✔ | — |
| 2017 | Peter Capaldi | ✔ | — |
| 2018 | — | — | — |
| 2019 | Jodie Whittaker | — | ✔ |
| 2020 | Jodie Whittaker | — | ✔ |
| 2021 | Jodie Whittaker | — | ✔ |
| 2022 | Jodie Whittaker | — | ✔ |
| 2023 | Ncuti Gatwa | ✔ | — |
| 2024 | Ncuti Gatwa | ✔ | — |
| 2025 | — | — | — |
| 2026 | — | — | — |
One thing’s especially clear to me after making this chart: Ncuti Gatwa didn’t get nearly enough episodes before Disney pulled the plug.
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